Tunnel of Secrets
by FelgaHelzio96
Summary: At an ordinary university in downtown Chicago, six ordinary students discover a mysterious piece of paper. Can they unravel a mystery that hasn't been solved for 106 years? (I had posted it before but took it down because I did some major editing). PLZ ENJOY and R&R! NOT TO BE UPDATED, I JUST LOST WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THIS...SORRY!
1. Prologue

_**a/n: this IS a Titanic story, the Titanic characters (owned by James Cameron) will appear after this chapter...this is just the background of the story.**_

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_**PROLOGUE**_

_**June 28 1906**_

Professor Grenwald had to hurry. He rushed through the dark corridors of the school at night, all the way down to the cellar. If any of the others found out about his rare gem collection, all hell would break loose.

He ran down the creaky old stairs and quickly packed up his gems in their chest. His rare gems were very special, they had special powers, but if the stone holder didn't know how to use the stones...it could cause great destruction.

He planned to hide them and save them. They were family heirlooms that had been in his family for generations, all the way back to the early 1600s in Germany. Just then, rushed footsteps could be heard clambering down the stairs. "Oh shit!" he grumbled, frantically searching for a place to hide his precious gems.

The other staff didn't understand about the gems. They all thought that he was up to some evil business. None of them trusted him. Many of them were jealous of his superior knowledge of science and technology, and would do anything to get rid of him.

Just as the first foot touched the cold cellar floor at the bottom of the steps, Professor Grenwald had been able to bury it behind a large bookcase. "Grenwald!" roared the dean of the college, infuriated. "I knew you're up to no good down here at night!" he bellowed.

"No! You do not understand!" Grenwald pleaded.

"Are you or are you not responsible for the disappearance of that Pearson boy last semester?" Professor Hark of the History department demanded.

"I am not! I've already told you!" Grenwald shouted angrily.

"He worked closely with you, some of his friends said he'd come down here at night with you," the dean said accusingly.

"Yes, he did work with me! But I haven't a clue what happened to him!" Grenwald protested.

"The evidence against you is too strong, we have no choice but to have you taken away," the dean told him seriously.

"TAKEN AWAY?!" Grenwald shouted.

Suddenly, more footsteps came down the stairs. Two police officers handcuffed him. "Professor Rolf Grenwald, you are under arrest for the disappearance of Elliott S. Pearson," one of them said.

"NOOOO! PLEASE! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Grenwald cried, kicking and yelling, as he was dragged away.

There was no denying that Elliott Pearson was missing, but Grenwald wasn't responsible for it. In fact, he was the only one who knew where he was, and had been sworn to secrecy.


	2. That's A Bit Sketchy

**a/n: I've been wanting to start a present day mystery story with the Titanic characters for awhile now...and I've finally figured it out I think. I hope you guys like it! I DON'T OWN TITANIC, JAMES CAMERON OWNS THE RIGHTS TO HIS CHARACTERS.**

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**Setting: **

**2012 in downtown Chicago**

**Main Characters:**

John Howard "Jack" Dawson; age 21; blonde hair; seafoam eyes; German/English lineage; college senior majoring in Art; dating Rose DeWitt Bukater

Rose Alexandra DeWitt Bukater; age 18; red hair; emerald eyes; Dutch lineage; college freshman studying Undeclared; dating Jack Dawson

Fabrizio Ernesto De Rossi; age 21; dark brown hair; hazel eyes; Italian lineage; college senior majoring in Computer Programming; married to Helga Dahl-De Rossi

Helga Johanne Dahl-De Rossi; age 21; blonde hair; blue eyes; Norwegian lineage; college senior majoring in Norse Myth/Lit (online because most colleges don't offer it); married to Fabrizio De Rossi

Olaf Asbjorn Fabrizio De Rossi; age 2; blonde hair; hazel eyes; Italian/Norwegian lineage

Gerda Johanne Alessa De Rossi; age infant; dark brown hair; blue eyes; Italian/Norwegian lineage

Thomas Patrick "Tommy" Ryan; age 22; light brown hair; hazel eyes; Irish lineage; college senior majoring in Business Management; married to Shannon O'Neal-Ryan

Shannon Margaret O'Neal-Ryan; age 21; strawberry blonde hair; blue eyes; Irish lineage; college senior majoring in Hospitality; married to Tommy Ryan

Seamus Kieran Ryan; age 1; light brown hair; blue eyes; Irish lineage

Professor Ferrell; age 54; gray hair; brown eyes; Irish/English lineage; college Literature professor; married

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_**Chapter 1~ That's A Bit Sketchy**_

Jack had to stay late at the library to research something for one of his classes. _Ergh finally...glad that's over! _He thought, finally rising from his seat and shutting off the computer he'd been working at.

He grabbed all of his books, paper, and pens, and stuffed them in his backpack. As he was leaving the library, he noticed a scrap piece of paper on the floor in between one of the aisles. He stooped down and picked it up, curious, he scanned it quickly to see what it was.

_June 28 1906_

_Elliott Scott Pearson..._

_...Gems..._

_...Underneath this school...fear...magic..._

_...do not go near it!...Professor Grenwald...evil_

_lurks...in...these walls._

It was clearly stained so badly in certain areas, that only a few words were able to be made out. Jack shook his head, trying to comprehend it, but there simply weren't enough words to convey the message.

He walked up to the library desk. "Excuse me..." he tapped on the counter.

An older lady looked up at him and lowered her glasses. "Yes?" she asked.

"I found this on the floor...this might be a stupid question but...could you tell me if this means anything to you?" Jack wanted to know, showing her the scrap of paper. The old librarian scanned it quickly.

"How old do you think I am boy?" she snapped irritably. "No, it doesn't look familiar. Probably fell out of a book...all these schools are full of unsolved mysteries, best to just put it back where you found it," she said, going back to looking up a bar code on the computer.

Jack nodded, taking the paper back. "Well uh...thanks anyways," he said uneasily, backing up. He decided not to put it back, but rather keep it. If it really was some sort of clue to an unsolved mystery, he figured it would be stupid to just put it back.

Jack liked adventures. He figured this could be either really fun or really scary, but definitely interesting. He stuffed it in his jeans pocket and ran out of the library into the chilly Chicago night air. The skyscrapers and buildings were brightly lit against the darkening sky, as the Chicago nightlife scene buzzed all around him.

For half a second, he considered seeing if his girlfriend Rose wanted to grab dinner, but changed his mind. Instead, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed his best friend Fabrizio. He wanted to tell everyone about his discovery.

"Sup?" Fabrizio answered the phone.

"Dude, I just found something AWESOME!" Jack exclaimed.

"What?" Fabrizo asked, his voice rising excitedly.

"This sketchy ass piece of paper in the library, I had to stay late and research something for one of my art classes. It's from 1906 and it's so stained I can barely read it. I don't wanna give too much away now, I'd rather show it to everyone in person. Do you have Tommy's phone number?" Jack explained.

"Oh okay. Yeah I've got his number. Its 312-459-0037," Fabrizio replied. "Are you coming over?" he asked.

"Yeah dude, can we get everyone to your place? It's only 6:08," Jack wanted to know.

"Helga and I were just about to order some Chinese food, we'll get some for everyone. You go ahead and call Rose and I'll go across the hall and knock on Tommy's door, save you a call," Fabrizio offered.

"Thanks man," Jack grinned, hanging up the phone. He dialed Rose next.

"Hello?" Rose picked up.

"Rose, you busy?" Jack asked.

"Not for you I'm not," Rose purred into the phone.

"Cool, I'll pick you up. We're going to Fabio's. He's getting Chinese food, there's something I've got to show everyone!" Jack told her excitedly.

"Oh, okay," Rose replied.

"See ya in five," Jack said, hanging up quickly.

He walked a few blocks and picked up Rose at her house. As usual, she was home alone because her mother was out with her country club friends. Jack hailed a cab to take them to the apartment building where the De Rossi and Ryan families lived. His own apartment building was across the street. They ran into the warm lobby and up to the fourth floor. Jack knocked on the door.

"One sec!" Helga called. Her footsteps could be heard rushing to open the door. A few seconds later, the door opened and Helga let them inside. She had her cell phone pressed between her left shoulder and ear, while baby Gerda was resting on her right shoulder. "Yes, two orders of crab rangoon..." she was saying into the phone.

Fabrizio and Helga's apartment was really cool. It was decorated in modern city style with cool furniture and a large glass window looking out into the city. They faced a street with many lit up buildings, and could see parts of skyscrapers that extended high into the sky. Needless to say, their view was pretty awesome.

"Hey guys!" Tommy waved from his spot on their comfy teal leather sofa. Fabrizio was sitting next to him, they had been watching a hockey game. Olaf and Seamus were playing with some toy trucks on the floor.

"Soo...looks like a good night for some hanging out!" Jack said.

"Definitely. Helga's ordering the food then you can tell us about this big mystery!" Fabrizio grinned.

"Mystery?" Rose looked at Jack, confused.

"Oh, he found a scrap piece of paper just lying on the floor at the campus library...apparently it had some strange clue-like message," Shannon said, walking into the living room from the kitchen area. She'd been doing the dishes so Helga could go feed Gerda and put her in bed.

"Really? Oh I can't wait to hear this!" Rose exclaimed.

"Okay guys, gimmie like five seconds!" Helga whispered from down the hall. She ran out of Gerda's room and gently closed the door, her socks sliding down the tile as she joined them in the living room. "So what about this mystery?" she asked, picking up Olaf. Shannon grabbed Seamus, too.

Jack brushed his hands together, grinning as he stood up in front of everyone. He took the piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Fabrizio to pass around. Everyone gathered around eagerly to hear the story. "So there I was...leaving the library," he began.

Olaf put a strand of Helga's long blonde hair in his mouth. "O-laf," he gurgled his name.

Helga giggled and reached up to put her hair in a ponytail. "Shh sweetie...listen to Uncle Jack's story!" she said excitedly. "Sorry," she added, looking at Jack.

"It's cool," Jack nodded. "So anyways, I found this on the floor next to one of the shelves. I'm not sure if it came out of a book or what. But as you can see, it's nearly impossible to read it past a few phrases. The few words on there though...damn, there's got to be some sort of weird mystery behind it," he continued.

"Yeah, it's pretty hard to deny," Tommy agreed. "I don't know what sorts of magical gems or evil magic are buried underneath the school...but if you want help finding out sign me up!" he added.

"Awesome!" Jack grinned. "So what do the rest of you guys think? Anyone for helping us crack this mystery?" he asked, looking around at the others.

"Uh...obviously!" Fabrizio yelled excitedly. "But like when are we doing it? Because Helga and I usually spend a lot of time..." he was cut off by Helga slapping his arm.

"...playing cards! Relax babe, playing cards!" Fabrizio said with a sheepish grin.

Helga rolled her eyes. "Okay sure." She then leaned closer and whispered something in his ear, making him grin and nod his head eagerly.

Jack laughed and looked at the girls. "Wanna help us ladies?" he asked.

Helga and Shannon shrugged. "Sure...but we're out if it gets scary or dangerous," they said at the same time. They were best friends, and often chorused eachother.

Rose looked down at her feet for a second, thinking. "Eh...I don't know about this Jack. Are you sure this paper is real and not some sort of prank that someone left on the floor?" she asked uneasily.

Jack shook his head. "Come on Rose! We're all doing it," he insisted hopefully, his seafoam eyes twinkling.

Rose sighed. She was still a bit skeptical, but she didn't want to disappoint her boyfriend and ruin his excitement. "Fine. I mean I guess if everyone else is...but I'm with Helga and Shannon. If things go South, I'll probably run away screaming," she laughed, looking back up.

Jack grinned. "That's good enough for me! Let's crack this shit!" he yelled.

"Come on guys, Olaf repeats stuff now, must you swear?" Helga rolled her eyes.

"Oops, sorry," Jack said with a sheepish look.

"Yeah, cracking a 106 year old mystery, this is gonna be f-ing awesome!" Fabrizio agreed.

"Fabrizio Ernesto De Rossi, if our son says ONE profanity in public, I WILL pretend I don't know you," Helga said with a slight giggle, slapping his arm and walking into the kitchen area with Olaf.

"Uh-oh...you're in trouble now dude!" Tommy teased. "Shan lets me swear all the time!" he boasted.

Shannon rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure. Not in front Seamus I don't," she said. She looked at Helga. "I hear ya sister, these kids are parakeets!" she agreed.

Helga nodded. "I know right?!" she shook her head.

"Sorry babe," Fabrizio said.

"Me too Shan," Tommy said.

Jack laughed. "Hey, when's that Chinese food getting here? I'm starving!" he asked, trying to diffuse some of the playful yet also legitimate tension.

Helga shrugged. "I think the guy said like fifteen minutes but I couldn't really understand his accent," she said.

"Awesome! Did you get fortune cookies?" Rose wanted to know.

"Yep!" Helga laughed. She and Shannon walked into the kitchen where they were going to feed Olaf and Seamus, Rose followed. Jack went over and joined Tommy and Fabrizio on the couch as they resumed their hockey game.

It had gotten even darker outside. The light from the skyscrapers and other buildings twinkled in the dusk. The air was filled with typical city sounds, and an unsettling fog settled over the Chicago skyline. It was as if Jack's revelation had triggered some sort of weird energy to finally come out of hiding.


	3. Fortune Cookie Prophecies

_**Chapter 2~ Fortune Cookie Prophecies**_

About thirty five minutes later, there was another knock at the door. "I'll get it!" Helga yelled, rushing to open it. Olaf and Seamus were in their high chairs eating fruit and pizza bites, and Shannon and Rose were sitting with them, watching the game from a barstool.

Helga opened the door. "De Rossi residence?" the delivery guy asked in a thick Chinese accent.

"Oh, um, yes...thank you," Helga said, taking the food and handing him a wad of cash. She almost hadn't been able to understand him again. "Have a nice night," she added awkwardly, shutting the door behind her. "FOOD'S HERE!" she announced over the guys shouting at the television.

"FINALLY!" Fabrizio yelled. All the guys scrambled off the sofa, pushing past each other to get to the table, and all crashed into one chair. Helga, Shannon, and Rose all looked at each other.

"Really guys?" Shannon asked with an eye roll. "Thomas Ryan, you're acting younger than Seamus!" she laughed.

"And you almost knocked all the sweet and sour sauce off the table..." Helga added with an amused giggle.

"I think I'm just gonna go sit in this chair," Tommy said, moving over one to sit by Shannon.

"Yeah, I'll go over here," Jack decided, sitting in the chair next to Rose.

"Watch my legs guys!" Fabrizio yelped from the sudden pressure of his friends getting up. He rubbed his sore legs.

Jack and Tommy laughed. "Can we just eat like civilized human beings now?" Shannon wanted to know.

Helga pushed some sort of spicy noodle dish, white rice, and crab rangoon into the center of the table. "Dig in," she laughed.

"Aaahh Chinese food!" Rose said, taking a big bite of the crab rangoon. She loved seafood, especially anything with crabs.

"Don't forget the fortune cookies for later!" Helga added, putting a handful next to the food in the center.

"Yes!" Rose smiled excitedly.

Jack grinned. "Damn this is good, is this the place on the corner?" he asked through a mouthful of noodles.

Fabrizio nodded. "Yeah," he said, swallowing a spoonful of white rice and washing it down with his beer.

In their high chairs, Olaf and Seamus were playing with their forks and spoons. "O-LAF!" Olaf yelled suddenly, throwing his spoon at the back of Rose's head. He was obviously done eating.

"Ow!" Rose squeaked, startled. She'd nearly choked on her water.

"Are you OK?" Helga asked, alarmed. She looked sharply at the grinning toddler. "No throwing things sweetie, or Mamma will have to take the spoons and forks away."

"Sorry about that," Fabrizio added, a sheepish smile across his face. "No no buddy, give Daddy the spoon and fork..." he said, taking Olaf's utensils.

"It's fine..." Rose said, gently rubbing where the spoon hit her. Jack stifled a laugh, causing Rose to elbow him sharply in the ribcage. "Shut up you ass," she giggled.

"What?" Jack grinned.

Tommy was shoveling noodles in his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in days, sweet and sour sauce was dripping down his chin. "This is the best Chinese dish I've had in awhile! Either that or I'm just starving!" he exclaimed, wiping his face with a napkin and gulping down his beer.

Shannon grabbed some more white rice. "You're such a slob!" she laughed.

They all laughed. It was silent for a few minutes as everyone enjoyed their food. All the guys focused their attention on the television, the hockey game was almost over. As Jack watched the game, he couldn't keep his mind off the mysterious piece of paper.

"Who do you guys think Elliott S. Pearson is? Or Professor Grenwald?" he asked out of nowhere, as the game cut to commercial break.

"No clue," Fabrizio said, helping himself to another beer out of the cooler.

"Look 'em up," Tommy suggested, shoving another spoonful of spicy noodles in his mouth.

Jack nodded. "Good idea," he said. He took his phone out of his jeans pocket and did a quick internet search on both names. Oddly enough, nothing came up, except a bunch of useless links that had nothing to do with his search. "Can't find anything."

Helga looked over at him. "What did you type in?" she asked.

"I just said Elliott S. Pearson and Professor Grenwald," Jack replied.

"Try Professor Grenwald and then the name of the university," Shannon said.

"Okay," Jack nodded. He searched that. Once again, no results came up. "What the heck is this, nothing..." he shook his head.

"Maybe this isn't real sweetie, someone might have made up some names and wrote up a fake mystery letter, and then dropped it on the floor for someone to find..." Rose suggested, gently rubbing her boyfriend's back.

Tommy looked up. "She has a legit point...damn, maybe it is fake..." he said, disappointed.

Fabrizio shook his head. "Whoever made that is an asshole...I was excited about it!" he chimed in, pissed off.

While the guys sulked, the girls were actually sort of relieved. "Maybe it's better this way, I didn't exactly love the idea of sneaking around in the school's basement looking for some 106 year old clues..." Shannon whispered to Helga, who nodded.

"Lemme look up one more thing..." Jack said. He searched the two names, the university, and 'gems'. When nothing came up, he sighed miserably. "I'm sorry guys, I should have researched it first..." he apologized sadly.

"Don't worry about it babe, let's just forget about it," Rose said, softly pecking the side of his head.

"Yeah it's not a big deal bud, we'll find something else fun to do," Tommy said, slapping him on the back. Fabrizio nodded eagerly.

"Hey, I've got something that will cheer everyone up, fortune cookies!" Helga exclaimed, passing them out around the table.

"Oh yeah!" Rose clapped excitedly, tearing open the wrapper. She also had a weakness for fortune cookies, or rather, sweets in general. She shoved the whole thing in her mouth, and then read the fortune. Just then, her happy smile turned into a puzzled expression. "What does this mean?" she asked suddenly, putting her fortune in the center of the table.

_~All the answers lie with the one who holds the most wisdom~_

"That's what mine says too!" Jack exclaimed.

"Same!" Fabrizio chimed in.

"Me too!" Tommy piped up.

"That's so weird," Helga commented.

"Why do we all have the same fortune message?" Shannon asked.

Jack shrugged. "Maybe they just put the same message in all the cookies in this batch," he said.

Shannon nodded. "Yeah that makes sense, some of these restaurants just aren't trying that hard with their fortunes anymore..." she agreed.

Rose looked at Jack. "You know what, I think I've had enough for tonight..." she said uneasily, starting to get up. All of the sudden a funny feeling had come over her.

Jack was worried. "What's wrong babe?" he asked, slowly getting to his feet.

"Can we please just go, I'll tell you later," Rose said, grabbing her purse. "Thanks for dinner, I'm sorry," she added quickly, rushing out the door.

"Uh...goodnight then guys," Fabrizio said with a confused shrug.

"Yeah, night, I'll call you tomorrow," Jack said. "Sorry." He grabbed his phone, the mystery paper, and rushed out after Rose.

After they left, Seamus began to cry tiredly. "We should get going too, but let's meet for breakfast or something," Shannon said to Helga as she got their things together.

Helga nodded. "Yeah for sure. It's Olaf's bedtime too," she said.

Tommy slapped Fabrizio on the back and grabbed Seamus out of his high chair. "See ya!" he called. Shannon opened the door and they walked across the hall back to their own apartment.

Now the De Rossi's had their apartment all to themselves again. "Uh...what the f*ck was up with Rose?" Fabrizio asked, cocking an eyebrow at Helga.

Helga shrugged. "I don't know, but whatever it is, Jack will get it out of her," she said. Fabrizio nodded in agreement.


End file.
